Page 76 of Angels & Whiskey

“There are some clothes in your old room that you can wear,” Mom advised, turning on a few lights.

I looked down at my dress. I hadn’t thought about changing or grabbing clothes. “Thank you. Let’s all change and then I’ll tell you everything.” I started to walk down the hall toward my childhood room. “Dad.” I called out, turning around.

“Yeah, sunshine?”

“Make sure all the doors and windows are locked and turn the alarm on.”

He gave me a concerned look before he nodded his head and started walking the security system. I turned and headed back toward my old room. My head felt as if it were spinning and my heart was still beating fast. I didn’t know how long we had, but I knew I needed to tell them what was going on. Once Rich found I was gone, he’d more than likely check at my parents’ house first.

I pulled a few drawers out of my old dresser and found a pair of black yoga pants and a purple tank top. After getting my dress off, I slipped into the clothes and then went to the closet where I found an old pair of running shoes. I didn’t know why Mom never threw my old clothes out, but at that moment, I was thankful.

Walking back down the hall, I sat on the couch.

“Well?” Dad questioned impatiently.

I took a deep breath, ready to tell them everything that was happening when I realized we needed to leave. No telling what Rich would do if he came to the house looking for me. “Actually, I have a better idea. We need to go to a hotel.”

“What?” my parents asked in unison.

“I don’t want you here where Rich can get to you.”

“Autumn. You need to tell me what’s going on!” Dad barked.

I jumped from my seat. “I will, but we don’t have a lot of time. We need to go.”

“Autumn!” he yelled again.

“Dad, please. You need to trust me.”

“Jesus Christ, young lady. You need to tell me what the fuck is going on right now!”

“Rich isn’t the man you think he is!” I yelled.

They both stilled and I imagined them holding their breath, waiting for me to tell them why.

“Look, I’ll tell you everything when we get to a hotel far away from here. We need to be somewhere where he can’t get to you and hurt you.”

“He can’t hurt us,” Dad grunted.

“There’s no doubt in my mind once he finds out that I left without a trace and I’m going to divorce him, he’ll hurt you to find me.”

“This is ridiculous,” Dad grumbled.

“Please trust me. I’ve known Rich for almost four years.”

“Let’s just listen to her,” Mom pleaded. “All of this is scaring me. I thought we were leaving your house because someone was making threats to Rich, not that you—”

“I know,” I cut her off. “I’ve wanted to leave Rich for a while. We need to leave now.” I stood, walking toward the garage door.

After my parents stared at each other for a few seconds, they finally agreed to go to a hotel. They packed a bag in a hurry and we took off for the strip. I convinced them it should be a hotel with a lot of people and not a little hole in the wall motel Rich could easily get into.

We stopped at the bank on the way, getting cash for a room because I didn’t want Rich to trace their credit cards. I knew Dad wanted to wait to do anything until I told them everything, but he just nodded and did as I said.

After leaving the bank, we agreed on the Luxor hotel. My parents couldn’t afford a few nights in one of the hotels closer to the center of the strip, and the Luxor was close enough for there to still be a ton of people around.

“We need a room for four nights,” I said to the front desk clerk.

“Four nights?” Mom asked. “We can’t stay for four nights!”